Swallowing Darkness
by Minibyte
Summary: Pre-series Mandarin has been drinking and he's not pretty when he drinks. It was resolved long ago for Nova to fight him, but now, with a small misinterpreted video clip, Mandarin decides to put his 'brothers' in their proper place. Rating: V, L, & SC.
1. Pt 1

A/N: Well, I finally have something new for you my friends. I would love to give a huge thanks to Duskblood for inspiring me to write this with her majestic writing. I'd always wanted to write out how I envisioned Mandarin in the past but I never thought I could fit it into a fic. Her detailed descriptions of scenes close to mine that I needed to learn from to write out my own. So give a big round of applause to Duskblood for me and go check out her stories, 'cause if you don't I'll hunt you down! Just kidding (about the hunting part)! To lighten the mood before I part…

Mandarin: Can you get on with it? I've got an evil seminar to attend in five minutes.

Me: Alright, alright, for the world though, any flashbacks you see are in first person with the character that is thinking of them.

Disclaimer: SRMTHFG does not belong to me and never will. It belongs to Ciro Neili.

**Swallowing Darkness**

Part 1

It was absolutely silent. The golden simian was awaiting her daily breaking, only to mend herself for the next day's breaking, never fully healing.

A cup slammed down, "One more!" she jumped from inside the room, feeling his connection with reality part.

///

Ferocious menacingly dark ocular orbs coupled with fiery pupils were holding the glass in their hands.

The younger blue monkey brought over a bottle of dark red wine, filling the sixteen ounce glass a quarter full. The orange colored simian growled at his subordinate. "All the way." The blue simian scrambled, pouring the last of the wine in the glass, only filling it up halfway.

"I said ALL THE WAY!" He yelled monstrously.

"I- I- I'm s- s- s- sorry M- Mandarin." He cried, placing his hands over his face to evade attack.

The orange simian growled and blasted the blue into the wall. "S-P-R-X seventy seven!" He stopped to breathe heavily, "Bring me a beer!"

The red monkey chuckled nervously and ran to the kitchen, returning quickly with the beer. The orange simian snatched it. He looked toward the black one.

"Care to join me?" he asked, swaddled by drunkenness.

The black simian looked nervously at the orange one. Saying 'no' may have been fatal. He pulled out a chair and sat down. "Bring him a beer as well S-P-R-X seventy seven." the orange simian growled.

The black simian looked to the red monkey. "The mayflower kind." he said, staring at the orange monkey again.

The orange simian growled forcefully toward the black one. His eyes were murderous, "What, were you doing, with MY prize, last night?" his words were venomous.

The black simian looked down, "Nothing, absolutely nothing."

"Explain this!" He growled, showing the black simian some security camera footage of the black simian hugging the yellow simian comfortingly as she lay against his chest. She slumped toward the ground, falling to it. He supported her as she fell, kneeling down until he sat on his knees and she laid on them. Placing his hand under her head, he lifted it and sat with his legs crossed, dragging her onto him, her head against his chest again.

"Don't tell me that is nothing!" The orange simian growled, "That's you Antauri. And that's MY prize. You are never to touch her again! I find that you have touched her once, even once! Your pelt will adorn my room as you die in the worst way possible!"

The red simian came back; he laid a can in front of the black one. "Thank you Sprx." the black monkey said.

The orange simian growled, taking a deep swig of his wine, nearly draining the glass.

The black simian popped the lid of his mayflower styled 'beer.' He took a small sip. The orange simian popped open his own beer and took another deep swig. He closed his eyes, deviously smiling. "I wonder," he said, "What she would think?" He gulped down the rest of his beer, tossing the can behind him.

He looked to the blue simian who was yet again waiting on him hand and foot. "Hailey!" he growled, "Restrain him! Then bring me..." He stopped short, "On the other hand... just restrain him. I'll be back."

The blue simian raised a drill, looking away as he shot and bound the black simian to the chair. He looked miserably at the black monkey, "Sorry..." he whispered.

"It's okay Gibson, I understand, we are all afraid. I somehow knew Mandarin would have been upset about that footage." the black monkey said.

Mandarin walked back in, he grabbed Antauri by the scythe of his helmet. He stabbed a large needle into his neck, injecting the entire dosage into it. Gibson nearly screamed, the entire dosage was nearly lethal if the medication was what had been designed for that needle. Antauri fell unconscious after the needle was pulled out.

The red simian looked at the black one critically, and for a second, even admired his bravery. He didn't scream a word when Mandarin injured him.

He knew it was what Mandarin wanted, especially when he was as drunk as he had been, the team's screams were all that he yearned to hear. The orange monkey turned around as he exited the room, "I expect to see him right there when I get back," He growled, marching out.

The blue simian relaxed, the orange tyrant gone. He picked up the can Antauri had been drinking from, "I have never seen a mayflower beer before. Where did you get it?" He asked, never recalling putting such an item in their carts on the shopping trips.

The red simian snatched the can from the blue one's hands. He pulled off the mayflower label, revealing a tall citrus soda can. The blue simian put his hands to his hips, "I knew that wasn't beer…" he said nervously, embarrassment visible on his face.

The blue simian looked to his spiritual brothers, "I suggest we hide." He said, "Before he starts looking for another target."

The red and green simians exchanged nods. The two took off out the door. The blue simian looked at the black one, "I truly am sorry Antauri." He said, before running off to join the others.

///

The golden simian closed her eyes. She could remember it all, and the extremely stupid mistake that ran up to it.

_(Nova's POV)  
The monkeys were sitting around a table. Shugazoom was celebrating them, for saving the city. Plates were in front of them as a buffet of food waited to be picked through for the perfect items. Coolers with drinks were off to their sides, and beautiful champagne glasses sat in front of them. Otto was tapping a fork on his, enjoying the dinging sound it made. I picked mine up, Shugazoom had absolutely no knowledge of our real ages. I knew better than to drink it though, I was underage. I was positive that the rest of the team would have self-restraint as well due to their respective ages._

_A man came around; he poured a white wine in our glasses. Otto seemed especially enthused to hear the different sounds the cup could make when he tapped it in different places now. We saw people begin to toast, Mandarin imitated their actions, sounding as intellectual as he could while he made up a toast. We all clinked glasses, I set mine down immediately, not drinking it. I hoped the others followed my example. Sprx and Gibson had set theirs down, Gibson had an extra glass, obviously taken from Otto. Mandarin and Antauri tasted it though. I turned to my left to hear a hacking noise, Antauri was spitting out every taste of the liquid._

_I looked to my right, Mandarin was still drinking. He pulled the glass away from his lips, "A divine flavor, hm?" he asked. He put his hand on my shoulder, I blushed, I had to admit at the time, I sort of liked Mandarin. I just hoped he was lying about the flavor of the wine and never wanted to drink it again. I saw Gibson get up, "Who wants a soda and what?" he asked._

_I politely asked for a water, Mandarin insisted upon getting his himself, and Otto helped Gibson bring back sodas, tea, and a water. Mandarin brought back something else though; he had looked in the wrong box and grabbed a beer. Gibson insisted on taking it back to exchange it for something better, but Mandarin insisted upon keeping the drink he had chosen._

_Short to say when we got home, Mandarin was still loopy from the wine and beer, both of which he enjoyed. However, he was still enjoyable, a lot less strict. Everyone enjoyed that point, so when he asked for more, we brought him more, thinking no harm done, then when time passed…_

The door to the training room slammed open. The golden simian flinched. The orange monkey strode in, closing and locking the door behind him with a key that she could never get to. He smiled earnestly at her, she closed her eyes. "What is it today Mandarin?" she growled angrily.

He walked closer toward her, "Now now my dearest Nova… you are…" He put his hand under her chin as he smiled. Her orbs split open, "Toast." He finished as punched up harshly against her chin, blowing her back.

The red simian's orbs enlarged in the darkness in which he hid. He sincerely wished he could do something to stop the orange simian's attacks against his friend.

The orange simian smiled, rushing up to the golden one and ramming her into the wall. She let out a painful screech, a screech that no one would respond to.

His smile only widened to hear her scream. He grabbed her about the neck, suffocating her, the screaming stopped as the golden simian only begged for her breath. "How's it feel Nova?" He smirked cruelly, "Having the wind knocked out of you and no place to go?"

She transformed her hands to get him off as she dangled from the ground with his hands about her throat. He pushed her further back into the wall. She pushed his arms away, he tumbled backwards a few feet. "Actually," she remarked, pleased with getting herself out, "A fresh breath of new air feels great!"

Mandarin rushed at her, she nearly evaded the attack. He looked to her left, where she had landed. He smiled, "So, we're playing with transformers? This isn't going to be a fair fight?" He asked pathetically.

He snapped straight and walked toward the door. Nova looked desperately at him, she needed more time, he couldn't attack the other teammates. It was her job to fight him until he passed out and woke up at least semi-sober, in a state where he wouldn't go attacking anyone. She ran to him, grabbing onto his leg to prevent him from moving any further.

He shook her off, "I am going to make this a much fairer fight." He growled as he unlocked the door and walked out, relocking the door behind him.

The golden simian banged at the training room door, as soon as the orange simian disappeared, the red one knocked on the door. He had ran outside to avoid being seen, "Nova! You okay in there?" He asked,

"Watch out!" She cried desperately, "Mandarin got out!"

"I said are you okay?" The red simian repeated,

///

Mandarin smiled at his trapped accomplice as the black simian sat bound to the uncomfortable wooden chair. "I'd love to stay and chat," he said, with a malevolent glimmer in his eye, "But I need something."

With that, he grabbed Antauri's hand. The black monkey shivered, even asleep, it terrified him, if there was one thing that the simian hated more than Skeleton King, it was being touched, especially in places where many of his nerves resided.

Mandarin pushed a button on the black simian's wrist. It ejected the black monkey's hand. He then pushed the button on his own wrist, ejecting his hand and replacing it with the black monkey's. Placing his own hand in his helmet, he walked away, back toward the training room from whence he came.

///

As Nova heaved herself against the door for the hundredth time, still without answering Sprx's question, she heard a scream. It was no doubt Sprx's, she listened, hearing the rattling of a key being inserted in the door. She stood back, watching as the orange simian strode back in and relocked the door.

He smiled at her cruelly, "Aww… did little Novie actually miss me that much?" He said tauntingly.

He put his arm around her waist. Crashing her into his chest, holding her there. She lay there for a second, astonished, thinking of what might happen in his drunken mental state. He transformed his hand into the claw he had taken from Antauri, scratching it down her back.

She screamed inaudibly, muted by the fur on his chest. Her back was clawed open, beginning to drop the crimson liquid that it held.

He let her pull away, holding still onto her hand. As she attempted to free her second hand, she looked at him, "What the hell was that for?" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Shh…" he whispered, placing his hand over her mouth. He dragged her back to the center of the training room again, dropped her mouth, and shook his hand to dry it after the golden simian's saliva covered it with her pathetic excuse to free herself. He smiled, _how adorable_, he looked at her with a scowl plastered on his face, after not being able to air dry the saliva within the limited time he gave it.

She growled at him, "Why the hell did you scratch my back?"

He smiled, he could have teased the golden simian and taken her words in a different context, but decided against it. He had more important business with the golden simian than playing childish games. "Because, dear girl, of this!" He broadcasted the beginning of the footage, as if the first frame were a picture.

He pointed to the golden simian in the image, "Who is that?" He growled,

"Me?" she asked, not clearly understanding his point,

"And who is that?" He growled, pointing to the onyx simian,

"'Tauri?" She asked, shortening his name to hopefully confuse the drunken monkey.

"Yes!" He spat venomously, "And what did I say about the other males?" He growled, dragging the claw up her right cheek.

She looked up at him, shaking in fear, "He was just… I thought…" she whimpered, terrified.

He snapped at her, placing the claw under her chin, "I understand…" he began sympathetically, he threw his free arm quickly at her chest, punching her back. The claw tipped, following her face as it scratched up her chin, muzzle, face, and helmet, "That you are not supposed to think!" He exploded, "Women are meant to be seen, not heard! They are property, not individuals!" He growled, scratching her chest, face, and helmet while he exploded.

She backed up, leaving a trail of crimson on the floor. He was barely getting started with her, she knew.

He growled, "What are you? Scared little Novie?" He smirked, "If you're so willing to act like a man, then come out and fight like one!"

She burst out from the shadows, attacking him, both fists poised, flaming with a fiery shield.

He stopped her with his own shield, grabbing her wrists and snuggling her in an embrace whilst she faced ahead, terrified inwardly of what he might do. He pulled a hand back, rubbing her shoulder. He pushed a button on the back of it, her fiery fist turned back into a normal hand.

He swapped his arms and pushed the button on her other as well, causing it to revert as well. He pulled out his ghost claw, sinking it into her wrist, damaging the transformer. He pierced her other arm as well.

The golden simian attempted to pull her arms back, she wanted to scream, but her mouth was too injured to do so. And she would never cry in front of him, it would make her look weak, proving his points.

He transformed the ghost claw back into his hand, wrapping it around her. Her lips trembled, she tried to pull forward, but in vain. Drunken, the orange simian's testosterone and adrenaline could far outmatch Nova, even in her highest adrenaline state. And it had been a big mistake of Nova's to try and coax that strength to the surface in training, as he had only grown stronger because of it. Not only sober, but proportionately drunken as well.

He let one arm go, delighted to see her attempt to take off, fall short, spin and be brought back to him, thudding her face into his powerful chest as she slipped down, failing miserably to stay strong, her legs beginning to give out from under her.

He grabbed her under the arms and brought her to her feet, so that they stood face to face. He slithered his tail around her legs to give her enough support to stand as she barely kept her consciousness, dazing in and out of reality. Antauri's claw… it was too much. She could handle his laser, his normal tool, but Antauri's claw…

He watched as she dazed in and out of consciousness, _'how precious'_ he thought. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her into a kiss. Even though her mouth had that familiar metallic taste to it, he couldn't help but enjoy her face pushed to his own.

She awakened again, pulling herself from her dazed state, her lungs tight from the pressure Mandarin pressed upon her nose with his face as he kissed her. She attempted to pull away without success, she forced her mouth open, as a reflex to inhale as much air as possible. Mandarin snickered delightedly at this as she pulled the air from his mouth, creating in essence, an airtight seal. However, he took opportunity as it knocked, deepening his kiss, dragging his cold tongue against the inside of her mouth.

He released the kiss as he felt her consciousness begin to fade, letting her chin hook to his shoulder as she regained her breath. _'so sleepy…'_ she thought as she began to fade on his shoulder. The blood loss draining her of all energy. He sensed her eyes fluttering shut, he released her legs, telekinetically lifting her and tossing her into the wall.

She awoke again; she had to get him just once. Knock the wind out of him, then he'd pass out, and she could sleep after that. She struggled to her feet, rushing ahead with the last of the energy she had. She thrust her meek fist forward to hit his chest, pulling up her knee to hit him where it hurt just in case.

He quickly grabbed her fist, pushing her back onto the ground, straddling her. She looked up with horrified eyes, now would come the worst part of the fight. It was nothing new, but it terrified her every time. He grabbed her mechanical top, beginning to unsnap the pieces that aligned to make it look seamless. He pulled it away, revealing a tank top and her long luxurious golden fur underneath. He pulled her arms from it, he pushed his hand against the grain of her fur, making her shiver. It was cold without her mechanical suit. His arms dove for her tank top, stopping short as he grabbed the mechanical top and threw it to the furthest corner across the room.

He dove for her tank top again, yet again stopping short to pull away the mechanical bottoms and toss them into another equally far corner. He stopped to enjoy her now curvaceous and womanly figure. As well as the absence of most of her clothes saving for her tank top and underwear. He nearly drooled, he smiled again, with her still pinned down, "Nova," he remarked loudly, "My, I never knew you had _this_ womanly of a figure!"

Sprx swore silently on the other side of the door. Mandarin didn't have the right to see that figure, nobody did. Not unless Nova permitted them to.

Nova laid there, waiting for the final straw, waiting for the horrid, wasted end that awaited her every time she waited for him, and yet she knew, she endured this torture for the team. She busied her mind with a memory as she waited,

_(Nova's POV again)  
It was still when Mandarin drank only once a week. Mandarin had begun to go insane on the team after he drank, beating them, giving them unreasonable orders. He'd always find someone to single out and beat to near death. I watched these events, every single hyper force member would drop unconscious before he did. With Sprx, Otto, and Gibson, he could beat one, rendering it unconscious and be half done beating the other one before he passed out. I was the only one strong enough to stay awake and watch him fall before I would fall. Antauri sometimes could, but only if Mandarin had been going for at least fifteen minutes before he approached him. If he hadn't, Antauri could put up a good fight that would render Mandarin unconscious right afterward, but he would fall first._

_I didn't want to see anyone get hurt, so I volunteered an idea. I could spar with Mandarin in the training room until he passed out. We tried it, nobody but me got hurt, and I was injured very badly, broken bones, burns, open flesh wounds, all of that. Antauri was enraged, he tried to take my place, he passed out quickly from Mandarin's harsh beatings in one on one combat._

_It only came later when he decided to erm... have his way, if you will, with me, I was in season. The team did their best to hide Mandarin's drinks during my season but he found them and drank to his heart's content. Antauri volunteered to take my place this time, I didn't want him getting hurt. Mandarin came in, tossed me around a bit and then __bang!__ It just happened. It was all so fast. I woke up in the training room, being shaken by Gibson. I had absolutely nothing on._

_Antauri was enraged far beyond the last time when he did that. He took my place when Mandarin unnaturally drank beer again the next day, he again easily beat Antauri and came after me. Eventually he got bored of beating up Antauri and just came after me. I started just waiting in the training room again, we could do nothing about it, so why hide…_

She came out from her memory, surprised to see it had not been interrupted. She looked upwards, seeing nothing there. Mandarin was laying passed out beside her, his arms wrapped about the slimmest part of her waist, cuddling her like a teddy bear. She pulled her front half up, carefully dislodging Mandarin's arms from her. He quickly grabbed her thigh to replace his missing 'teddy bear.'

She mentally sighed, staring at the ceiling, _'And I thought Sprx was a pervert.'_ She thought. She pried his hands away from her, slipping away from him. She stood up, finally getting the chance to slow her racing heart. There was a pool of crimson where she laid. She began to walk to her mechanical lower half to cover herself. She stopped, halfway to the corner, tripping over her own tail as it slouched to the ground. She lay there, the weakness returned, all the pain returned in a shooting mess. She tried to get up again, to crawl, to even inch her way toward her mechanical bottoms. At least those. She couldn't, she lay there, more a heap than a figure, a strewn bloody mess. Fatigue overtook her, drifting into a dreamless world, where she would stay unless someone awoke her…

///

A/N: Again, I would like to give a **huge** thanks to Duskblood for unknowingly helping me with this. This is a two-shot, although I'm willing to lengthen if all like. Constructive criticism appreciated and flames taken, (flamers, flame your heart out.) Just NO spam, I DO report those very long, very annoying reviews and they DO get removed. (By spam I mean the reviews that tell you (as a writer) about your true love and stuff, not by long reviews talking about the story.)

Announcer bunny: So, will Antauri be okay? Who will awaken Nova, and will it be who you expect? Find out in the next installment of: Swallowing Darkness!

Me: Yay! I left you with a double cliffy! Be sure to press that pretty green review button! Oh and for all who have read my other stories and are curious about their updates, they shall be updated soon! I now officially have all the time in the world to write! I have already prepared a new chapter for one of them, I just have to install it. For now, Ciao!  
(Seriously though, give me a few ideas of who should wake Nova up! And give me a rating, I've seen some pretty bad rated T stuff, but do you think this should be rated M?)


	2. Pt 2

A/N: OK, for all of you who didn't! Now face my wrath! _Mew…_ Darnitall! The potion didn't work! Whatever, again, I give my thanks to Duskblood who helped me develop this story into the beautiful bloom from an idea. Thanks to all who review, and uh… go check out Duskblood's stories and R&R! For now, I present… the disclaimer~! (I know, aren't you thrilled too? =)

Disclaimer: SRMTHFG does not belong to me and never will. It belongs to Ciro Neili.

**Swallowing Darkness**

Part 2

The door was pulled open, it was nearly an hour later. Olive ocular orbs stared into the darkness of the training room. It was night, making the room even darker. A flashlight intensely scanned the floor with its narrow beam. The walls and the floor were decorated with a substance. A shadow came into range, it scanned over the being's tail. Orange, not the right color. It scanned the ground again, picking up another shadow, it beamed over this being's tail as well. Yellow, with some red as well. The unknown flashlight holder walked in, carefully evading the orange figure and walking to the crumpled yellow and red one.

The flashlight shined directly in the creature's face. It was all yellow and red, with some hue of inbetween. The flashlight holder kicked her over. It shined it's light into the corners with the golden simian's metallic suit in them. It grabbed the two pieces and dropped them on top of their mangled owner.

The flashlight flipped off. Sound rustled as it pocketed it's flashlight. Strong metallic arms lifted the golden simian with her attire atop her. The dark figure walked into the medical bay, laying the golden simian onto one of the cots. It took hold of her metallic suit, carefully folding it and placing it on one of the counters. It cast a dark blue blanket above her, hiding her unclothed form. It stroked it's hand across her cheek carefully, in an attempt not to awaken her. It peered at her for a last moment, unsure of what to do. She began to stir, and with that, her apparent 'rescuer' had vanished. Leaving her alone in the medical bay, waiting for help to come.

Her eyes opened, she peered into the darkness of the medical bay. She fought fatigue and the blanket to pull herself into a sitting position. She caught a faint glimpse of her metallic suit, she pulled her ragged form from the bed and stumbled to the counter, she grabbed her suit and stumbled back to the bed, laying across it, the metallic clothing crumpled on her chest. She closed her eyes, weakly pulling the blanket across herself before falling into slumber again.

///

"She'll be okay." She heard Gibson proclaim.

"Antauri's claw really pulled a number on her, huh?" She could hear Sprx ask.

"Shh! You'll wake her up!" Gibson hushed, "And yes, Antauri's claw did inflict a severe amount of damage. Now, if you could politely leave, I have important matters to attend to that, frankly, do not include you."

_"Oomph!"_ She could hear Sprx shoved outside.

A hand stroked the top of her helmet. "Please rest Nova." His British accent rang in her ears, much the way any accent did.

She stirred,

"Nova!" He insisted,

She shoved the blanket away, careful to keep her back to the blue simian. She used what strength she had gathered from sleep to pull the mechanical suit back on. Behind her suit, many of the injuries were hidden. She pulled herself back into the medical bay bed and closed her eyes. She was fatigued and it was apparent for all to see.

He began to attend to his work again, "By the way," He said as he gripped a length of paper, "Mandarin's blood alcohol content has again regressed itself to zero. Providing the others are helping, you shouldn't have to worry about dealing with him for at least a few more days."

"Mmnnuhh," She mumbled and laid there.

The tapping of more footsteps, annoyed, Gibson placed his hand to his forehead, "_Sprx…_" He growled.

A baritone voice responded to him, oblivious to his comment, "How is she?"

Gibson whirled around, nervous that he had mistaken Antauri for Sprx. He took a deep breath and began to respond, "She's doing, reasonably, better… putting it this way, she could be considerably worse."

"At least we can take that as good news. I would expect her to be fine as she seems to heal so quickly." He looked down, transforming his recovered hand, "I'll admit to being rather alarmed when I came in and the floors and walls were drenched with blood. I worried about her,"

Gibson gave the onyx simian a sly look, as though he was preparing to blackmail him.

"Ability to battle," He quickly tacked on, "With all of the wounds, I worried about her ability to battle our real foe, Skeleton King. We cannot appear weak before him, as he will exploit it and perhaps attempt to destroy us from the inside-out."

The scientist simian's sly look disappeared. He nodded and added, "Most of the wounds are actually fairly shallow, there is just… many of them, and they did not help overall. There are a few deep wounds that will take a decent amount of time to heal. I would judge that emotional trauma would probably be the worst of the wounds."

"Yes, but many shallow wounds can amount to the blood of deep wounds." Antauri countered.

"She's awake now." Gibson changed the subject.

Antauri walked to her, allowing his hand to return back to normal. He stroked her helmet, "I apologize Nova," He whispered.

She opened her eyes to finally look at him, "What for?" She asked, "You didn't do anything wrong."

"It was _my_ claw." He insisted,

"Whatever." She quietly stated and closed her eyes again.

Antauri looked up, "You have done all you can do for her, correct?" He asked.

Gibson nodded uncertainly.

"I could take Nova back to her room, that way she could rest in a more peaceful environment." He suggested.

Gibson looked over the golden simian, debating whether to let Antauri take her or to keep her in the medical bay. It was obvious that all he could do now for her was to administer pain-killers and antibiotics for the injuries. Mentally, he could do little to help her there. It obviously wasn't helping to have both Nova and Mandarin in medical bay at the same time. He closed his eyes and contemplated for a second.

He finally spoke, "I observe it _is_ rather pointless to keep Nova and Mandarin in the same room together but I would like to keep a careful eye on both of them. Seeing as Mandarin isn't roaming the halls with access to alcohol and Sprx is currently commissioned… I assume she could, but I would like you to keep an eye on her. Bring her here immediately if she exhibits anything strange."

Antauri began to curl the blanket around her, like an infant.

"And Antauri, I _mean it_ this time. The last time I let you watch her, it nearly got both of you killed today. You and I both know what Mandarin thinks of Nova, you can't run around with her proving him right." Gibson warned.

"Gibson," He said, lifting her up, "I know. Mandarin severely misinterpreted about two seconds of footage due to his drunken state, which was to be expected. I wasn't just going to let her fall to the ground though, Mandarin would have been further angered if he'd seen that scenario. Either way, he would have been upset by this and someone has to take the blame, and I would have and did."

"Well you didn't take _most_ of it." Gibson attempted to point out,

"Mandarin did a square job on both of us. Nova is injured because of my weapon. Both of us took it, and although I would have taken it full on, it is over. Punishment has been dealt. All that can be done now is to learn the lesson and heal the wounds." Antauri stated. He abruptly turned and walked out, carrying Nova in his arms.

Gibson gave allowing Antauri to watch Nova a second thought. He closed his eyes, thinking himself foolish, _'Of course Antauri will take good care of Nova!'_ He thought, _'I just hope they don't get in trouble again…' _He looked back towards Mandarin, _'I hope you stay out for at least the next twenty-four hours'_ He allowed himself to think and slipped back into work.

///

Antauri watched ahead down the lengthy hallway to her room. He felt terrible. He knew he didn't use the weapon on her himself, but the mere thought of his own claw, creating all those terrible wounds. It didn't matter if it was Mandarin, those claws were _his_ trademark, according to everyone who looked in, _he _did it. Even Gibson had seemed to cast an ill eye upon Antauri for Nova's wounds, he had tried his best to hide it, but even he had his own prejudice and it was easy to see.

He opened the door, her room was a mess. Training equipment all over the floor, a few books laid messily in one corner. She obviously hadn't had the time to clean it lately, either that or she just didn't feel like it. Her hammock-like bed was at least made, he laid her upon it. He hovered his hand over her, gently stroking her helmet after a moment's hesitation.

"Nova," He took a deep breath, unaware if she was awake or asleep "This won't go on forever."

She didn't respond, he assumed she was asleep again.

"I'm serious about it this time. Sprx, Gibson and I have been plotting out Skeleton King's weaknesses and how to bring about his downfall quickly. We will be able to go to our homes, and you would never have to deal with anything like Mandarin again." He stated while stroking her head.

"Yeah, but when?" She managed to crack out of her tired voice.

He stroked her helmet, "Soon enough." He took a deep breath, "For now, rest. You need to recover so you can be as strong as you can be. We still have our battle with Skeleton King. You need to be strong for that."

Nova closed her eyes, "Antauri, I don't think… I'll be able to hold on much longer." Her voice was fragile, she looked like a little porcelain doll. Her orbs searched him inquisitively.

He smiled, "Yes you will." He said calmly, "You will not have to worry about Mandarin again." He placed his hand underneath her sinking chin.

She suddenly looked angry and defiant.

"Nova, rest." He stated, pulling his hand from under her chin.

She laid down, closing her eyes.

He telekinetically dimmed the lights to allow just enough darkness for her to sleep easily and to have enough light to keep a vigil over her.

He exhaled slowly, drawing in the next breath slowly, "I have recently observed some strange behavior from Mandarin. A view upon Shugazoom, perhaps possessive or jealous. I shall attempt to unearth more upon this issue but I doubt it will bring much toward freedom." He stated shakily.

"Freedom." She muttered from behind her closed ocular lenses. "I'm sure he'll tell me next time. Then… we will…" She dropped into sleep.

Antauri stroked her helmet a final time and folded himself into the lotus position. Closing his eyes, his body levitated into the air and he began to fall into a gentle meditation as the lights finally dimmed to off.

"Goodnight Nova." He whispered as he began to fall into his quiet vigil, unaware of how close the end of Mandarin's reign was.

* * *

A/N: And I can let you all guess what happened next. I'll give you three guesses and the first one doesn't count. And here's a hint: it has to deal with the HOOP.

I know this one isn't as powerful as the first chapter but I had to give the story a decent conclusion and a killer cliffhanger. I know it wasn't exactly the same style as the last chapter and not quite as intense but I had to wrap it up. Thanks again Duskblood! Anyways, thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing and I hope you have a good one. Ciao!

**REVIEW PLEASE!!!**


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